For Boca it was great news. They won the clÃÂ¡sico with San Lorenzo 2-0 with the second goal from MartÃÂ­n Palermo - a goal that virtually guarantees his place at the World Cup and also brought on a photo opportunity with Riquelme - suggesting that all is well in the state of La Boca, but proving that pictures can tell a thousand lies.

For LanÃÂºs and Newell's, it was great news. Thumping home wins moved them closer to qualifying for the Sudamericana and brushed over disappointing seasons.

For Argentinos it was fantastic news, as Bichi Borghi's smooth passing side also took all three points and stayed in the title hunt.

For Independiente it wasnt such good news as they were away, and dropped two points at HuracÃÂ¡n as their dip continues.

For Estudiantes, however, it was the best possible news.

The 1-0 win over River Plate was a modest scoreline for the country mile that separates these two clubs right now. One of River's defenders putting the ball past his own keeper also doesn't quite tell the story.

Unfortunately, the main story to come from the game was the battle between Leandro DesÃÂ¡bato and Ariel Ortega. Some classic chest puffing, pushing and growling between the two was followed by insults.

The Estudiantes centre back called Ortega a drunk. The River Plate forward then called DesÃÂ¡bato a cuckold. Only the first was caught by the cameras.

The following incident - a knee-high stamp by Ortega - was caught by several cameras, several thousand people in the stadium, and several tens of thousands of TV viewers, but not the lineman, stood three metres away, nor the refereee.

Ortega escaped Villalva and Cabral's fate, leaving River with nine players on the pitch at the end of the 90 minutes rather than eight, but the damage was done. The weekend's scandal was dished up the second Ortega wasn't given his marching orders.

In the aftermath, we have been reminded that DesÃÂ¡bato spent a night in jail in Brazil after calling the striker Grafite a 'monkey.' Ortega, meanwhile, crashed his car in the small hours of Sunday night.. Perhaps the incident shouldn't have surprised us that much.

The real story, however, beyond the insults and horror challenges, is that Estudiantes are on for a historic double. They are top of the table in Argentina, and as the current Libertadores champions, are feared across the continent in the week that the South American Champions League enters the knock out phase.

And while Godoy Cruz and Argentinos quietly go about their business staying within spitting distance of the top spot, everyone agrees that the best starting XI in the country is the one that Alejandro Sabella picks for Estudiantes.

This, however, is exactly what Sabella has done. Leaving so many first teamers at home is a calculated risk. The Libertadores final will be played after, that's right, after the World Cup.

Estudiantes can focus on home matters first, and as long as they keep afloat in the Libertadores, can set themselves up to win a historic back-to-back Libertadores trophy, and an even more historic league and Libertadores double.